Africa

2005

  

Three radio stations shuttered by religious leader

New York, October 3, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists is troubled by the forced closure on Friday of three radio stations in the Muslim holy city of Touba, center of the Senegalese Muslim community known as the mourides. In a recorded statement broadcast by local radio stations, chief caliph Serigne Saliou Mbacké ordered all three…

Read More ›

SENEGAL

SEPTEMBER 30, 2005 Posted October 13, 2005 Radio Télévision Sénégalaise Disso Hizbut Tarqiyah CENSORED In a recorded statement broadcast by local radio stations, chief caliph Serigne Saliou Mbacké ordered all three FM radio stations based in the Muslim holy city of Touba to vacate within three days. Touba is the center of the Senegalese Muslim…

Read More ›

Jail for reporting on corruption in famine aid distribution

New York, September 29, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the jail sentence given to a magazine journalist who reported on alleged corruption in the distribution of food aid during this year’s famine in Niger. On Tuesday, a court in the northern town of Agadez convicted Abdoulaye Harouna, publication director of the monthly Echos…

Read More ›

NIGER

SEPTEMBER 27, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Abdoulaye Harouna, Echos Express LEGAL ACTION A court in the northern town of Agadez convicted Abdoulaye Harouna, publication director of the monthly Echos Express, of defaming the local governor, Yahaya Yendaka. The court sentenced him to four months in jail and fined him 520,000 CFA francs (US$950). Harouna…

Read More ›

Radio journalist jailed for reports on Puntland prison

New York, September 27, 2005—Authorities in the Puntland city of Bossasso arrested an STN radio editor Monday in connection with his reporting on prison conditions, according to the Somali journalists union NUSOJ and a local source. Awale Jama Salad is being detained without charge for the second time in recent months. The arrest stems from…

Read More ›

SOMALIA

SEPTEMBER 26, 2005 Posted October 17, 2005 Awale Jama Salad, STN IMPRISONED Authorities in the Puntland city of Bossasso arrested an STN radio editor in connection with his reporting on prison conditions, according to the Somali journalists union NUSOJ and a local source. Awale Jama Salad was detained for the second time in recent months.

Read More ›

Three journalists freed; another ordered expelled

New York, September 26, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of three jailed journalists today in Chad. Garondé Djarma, Michaël Didama, and Sy Koumbo Singa Gali had been sentenced in July and August to prison terms ranging from six months to three years on charges related to their work. An appeals court in…

Read More ›

CHAD

SEPTEMBER 25, 2005 Posted October 13, 2005 Tchanguis Vatankah, Radio Brakos IMPRISONED Chadian authorities arrested community radio station director Tchanguis Vatankah in southern Chad and announced they would expel him from the country, according to local sources. A native of Iran who had been living in Chad for several decades, Vatankah is the founder and…

Read More ›

Newspaper seized, editor questioned by police

New York, September 20, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned the Rwandan authorities for seizing copies of the newspaper Umuco and harassing its editor who has criticized the government. CPJ also renewed its call for the release of Umuco journalist Jean-Léonard Rugambage, who has been in jail without charge since September 7. On Sunday,…

Read More ›

RWANDA

SEPTEMBER 19, 2005 Posted October 11, 2005 Bonaventure Bizumuremyi, Umuco ARRESTED, CENSORED, IMPRISONED Police detained editor Bonaventure Bizumuremyi at the border with Uganda, where Umuco is printed, and took him for questioning. He was released the same evening and he managed to give out some copies of the newspaper for distribution. However, the next morning,…

Read More ›

2005